Monday, November 18, 2013
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This week has been a whirlwind adventure. We've seen plenty of miracles, had awkward encounters, hunted down referrals, and exceeded our goals! We've also been on two exchanges this week, on account of Sister Halling's role as a sister training leader. Luckily, for most of them Sister Lemon and I get to remain in our area, which means we don't have to pack our overnight bags or lug around the air mattress.

We are teaching a lot of fantastic people whom I love dearly. We are also teaching a lot of flaky people who don't understand that the awkwardness of just saying "no" to a missionary is a lot better than the awkwardness of being hunted down by three missionaries every week until you respond.

Seriously. We will never stop trying to contact you unless you tell us not to. JUST SAY NO. IT'S OKAY.

But really I'm not too upset about any of that, because that's just a day in the life of a missionary. Rejection isn't too bad at all when you put it into perspective. They're not really rejecting you as a person or even the message that you offer. They simply don't have the eyes to see what is right in front of them, and while that's sad, that's okay. We can't help everyone.

We can help a lot of people, though. Take Robin, for example. My companions and I had just finished visiting a girl in our YSA ward and were walking to our car. Off in the distance we saw a crying woman being consoled by a friend. We all felt pretty awkward about interrupting the moment, but our missionary brains took over so we decided to suck it up and go over to see if there was something we could do to help.

She told us that her name was Robin and that her father needed to have open heart surgery. We asked if there was anything we could do to help, and her friend, Steve, said "you know, we could really use a prayer from you right now." Sister Lemon volunteered and gave a simple, beautiful prayer.

After the prayer, Robin stopped crying. They both talked about a feeling of peace coming over them, and how they knew that everything would be all right. Robin joked with her friend that he should start going back to church, and we left after talking to Robin about taking the lessons.

What a miracle that was! To be able to spread God's peace and love around a little bit.

Wherever you are this week, take time to look around you and see what good you can do. I promise there are opportunities!